Congolese Migrants Monitored for Ebola Along Texas Border, Says Official

A public health official in Laredo, Texas, said 20 Congolese migrants were monitored for Ebola and other diseases in shelters in his city and across the Mexican border in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. Shortly after his announcement during a Laredo City Council meeting, the World Health Organization (WHO) considered declaring a “global emergency” in response to a massive outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“We have 8 Congolese right now in one of our shelters and a dozen in Nuevo Laredo,” Laredo Health Director Dr. Hector Gonzalez told the Laredo City Councilman George Altget during a council meeting on April 4. “For them, my concern was Ebola.” He said that due to the time element, the Congolese migrants were not developing symptoms of Ebola. “But, we’re on alert to check that,” he said.

A report from the WHO states that, as of April 10, there have been more than 1,200 reported cases of Ebola in the Congo (1,140 confirmed, 66 probable). Those cases resulted in the deaths of 764 patients (698 confirmed, 66 probable). On Friday, The WHO decided the outbreak does not yet constitute a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).”

A top Red Cross official told NBC News on Friday that he is “more concerned than I have ever been” about the current outbreak of Ebola spreading regionally. Emanuele Capobianco cited statistics from the Congolese health ministry confirming 40 new cases over a two-day period last week. NBC reported that the official called the rate unprecedented in this particular outbreak.